Bracing for a new ‘wave of murderous Arab terrorism,’ Israel goes on high alert

With 11 people killed in Israel terror attacks in one week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared that Israel is facing “a wave of murderous Arab terrorism.”

“After a period of quiet, there is a violent eruption by those who want to destroy us, those who want to hurt us at any price, whose hatred of Jews, of the State of Israel, drives them crazy,” Bennett said in a statement. “They are prepared to die – so that we will not live in peace.

Police forces will be bolstered by 1,000 combat soldiers, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday as the Knesset prepares to convene for an emergency meeting tonight – a few days before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is set to begin this weekend, a time traditionally known for heightened tensions.

Bennett likened the rising violence to the lead-up to Ramadan last year – events which led to Hamas firing rockets at Israel and spiraled into the 11-day war between terrorist organizations in Gaza and Israel in May.

While attacks usually have, in the past, been carried out by Palestinians who live in the West Bank, Bennett described a “complex challenge” for security forces since the latest threats have been perpetrated by “lone individuals, sometimes without organizational affiliation.”

“We face a challenging period. We have experience in dealing with terrorism, from the very beginning of Zionism,” he said. “They did not break us then and they will not break us now.”

The renewed violence follows a month of random but non-lethal attacks, mostly in Jerusalem. But these attacks took a deadly turn in Beersheva on March 22 when four people were killed by an Israeli Arab who both stabbed some victims and ran over another one with his car.

The second attack occurred on Sunday in Hadera when two terrorists took to the streets spraying machine-gun fire at passersby. Two 19-year-old Border Police officers died in that attack. The perpetrators were also both Israeli Arabs and as in the previous attack, were also ISIS supporters.

The deadliest attack of the week occurred yesterday evening when a Palestinian from Jenin shot and killed five people. The terrorist, a Fatah member from the West Bank, used an M-16, in a busy area of Bnei Brak where parents were walking with their children and grocery stores were still open.

In addition to three Israeli men – one of whom was an Arab Christian police officer – two foreign workers from Ukraine were also killed.

Palestinians handed out sweets in celebration of the attack while social media accounts praised the murder and inaugurated a hashtag, “Operation Bnei Brak” where videos of the attack were uploaded and the terrorist praised as “brave” and “heroic.”